Sunday, February 21, 2010

...but not because of the rain itself. It was rather because of bad timing on my part and because most of the shooters in the Phoenix area seem very averse to shooting at an outdoor range in a little rain. I debated going to the Ben Avery Range early this afternoon despite the fact that it was raining on and off and cool outside. The rain and coolness would not have bothered me in the least, I kind of like that sort of weather and shooting in it just adds another aspect of reality to the type of situation in which one may find one's self in a real life defensive shooting. What I am trying to say is that the sun is not always shining, not even here in Phoenix, so why not shoot in the rainy weather now and then too to be ready to shoot in any type of situation. Works for me and I was ready to do it today but then bad timing came into play on my part. I had to take care of some errands today since today was my only day off this weekend. So I went to Walmart and Costco and Big 5 Sporting Goods first. That took longer than I had planned - Costco was mobbed and it took me a long time to get my 4 or 5 purchases through the checkout (yes they were things I will need for the upcoming week). When I got back to my apartment I had a quick lunch, then realized: 'Holy time travel Batman - it's already 2:30PM'. The Ben Avery Range closes at 3PM on Sundays at this time of year. That was definitely out. So instead of going there, I did this and that, then I decided to go to an indoor range. I looked some up on the Internet and found one not too far away called Shooter's World. I called them and they told me there would be an hour and a half wait because they were crowded today because of the rain.

I then called the Scottsdale gun club, quite a bit further away, but within reason. No one answered the telephone there. I tried several times but always got an answering machine even though their website says they are open til 7PM on Sundays and I was calling them between about 3 & 4. I even tried several different options from the voice menu but never got through to a real person. I decided to give it a shot anyway. I drove up that way, probably 20 or 25 miles in all and when I got there I found the place was packed. I guess I got there around 5PM or a little earlier. A customer told me there was a long wait and there were about ten people on line waiting to get in to shoot. I just looked around their shop, turned around and walked out. Outside I met one of the range employees and asked him about how long was the wait. He said at least an hour maybe 90 minutes. He also told me it was all because of the rain and that usually there is no to little wait even on weekends.

Rain - heck it sprinkled a few times today, and at other times once or twice it was a steady rain for all of 5 to 10 minutes in places I was at. It was on and off all day. If that is enough to make everyone flock to only indoor activities I am amazed, then again I suppose people out this way are really used to sunny days. They supposedly have been getting more rain than usual lately. As I said above, I certainly would have gladly gone to the outdoor range in the rain today. The rain would have assured a few things - the more realistic shooting scenario I mentioned above than only shooting when nice outside, that there would have been less people at the outdoor range and no wait like I had there last week, also that there would have been less down time between cease fires not having to wait for so many people to set up targets, and that there would have been less likelihood of their being jerks at the range. Jerks, morons, imbeciles, peckerwoods and arsehats seem to prefer nice weather at outdoor ranges. Too bad I started my day off late and that I decided to do my shopping earlier instead of later. Heck I could have gone shopping after the range as easily as before going there. Oh well, I suppose there is always next weekend.

I do not like shopping at Walmart but sometimes find myself therein looking for what I need. Today I did just that and I happened to come a cross a pretty good deal on something I did not expect to buy. They had Winchester Super-X 12 gauge 2 3/4" shotgun shells going for $3.17 per box of five. I have not seen 2 3/4" 12 gauge slugs going for less than $4.00 per box in store and not below $3.77 online (that was at http://sportsmansguide.com/ with a club member discount and did not include shipping). Of course I had to pay tax so it wound up being a bit more but not much. I bought a few boxes. I need to sight in my issued Remington 870. The rear sight came loose recently and while I got it back on okay and just qualified with it, I shot a few inches low at 25 yards. Could have been me, could have been the sights need adjusting. So, I'll take it to the range, probably next weekend and fire a bunch of rounds through it until it is shooting pretty much dead center.

If you are in the Phoenix area and want a good deal on those shells visit the Walmart on Bethany Home Road and about 15th Avenue; who knows all Walmarts may have them at the same price.

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